Re: [Leica] M7 at 2000's Photokina!!!

[Martin Howard <mvh@media.mit.edu>]

On Mon, 13 Sep 1999, Steve LeHuray wrote:

> Martin, PLEEZZZ!! Give it up. Stephen Gandy himself is a terrific resource,
> much more than you will ever be.

I wasn't contesting Stephen's knowledge of cameras.  I know that he's
forgotten more about cameras than I'll ever know.  I was contesting his
assertion that Leica linked to his site, when in fact they were linking to
Hans Pahlen's site, which links to Stephen's.

The fact that he is knowledgable about cameras and camera collection does
not, in and of itself, mean that we should take everything he says as the
absolut truth.

Let's get some clarity into this:  First off, I love Stephen's site.  It's
one of the most informative sites out there and I've used it extensively,
not least before I got my first M and wanted to find out as much as possible
about them.

That said, if information is to be of use to a community, it needs to be
qualified.  This is *particularly* true of a hot and contentious topic such
as a possible new M7 camera.  I agree wholeheartedly with those who state
that the *single line* assertion that Leica is bringing out an M7 camera for
Photokina 2000 is, by itself, useless.  In science, we don't take the
assertions of well-known researchers for granted, without peer review and
some evidence to back up the assertion (or at least: when it works, we
don't), and I see no reason why that should not be applied in life in
general.

I also agree with Stephen: I think he is quite right in his criticism that
no one bothered to contact him personally and ask what his source of
infomration was, and I think that some of the criticism directed towards him
does not constitute polite Internet behaviour by any definition of the
concept.

However, Stephen himself makes matters worse when he (a) refuses to state
his sources, (b) presents "evidence" of his credibility (that Leica links to
his site) which turns out to be a rather generous interpretation of the
facts at hand.  I think his analysis of Leica is astute, but when he makes
the claim that "The M7 has been announced introduction at Photokina 2000"
this is not an expression of opinion, but a clear, definite and postive
assertion.  It is only natural to wonder what that strong assertion is based
upon, particularly by those who await the next M-model

Unfortunately, this whole episode is rather typical of the LUG's
inflammatory attitude.  

M.

- -- 
Martin Howard                                 (__)                 (__)
Visiting Scholar at MIT Media Lab |           (oo)                 (OO)
fax: +1-617-253-8874              |    /-------\/       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: mvh@media.mit.edu          |   /|     ||
www: http://mvhoward.i.am/        | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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